Rating: R
Genre:
Horror
Release Date: 07/26/2005
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DD1
Run Time: 90 min
Flags: Violence, Not For Children
Distributor/Studio: Shriek Show
Director
Jeff Lieberman followed his horror-science fiction film
Blue Sunshine with this effort, which rehashes many of the themes explored in
Wes Craven's seminal horror work
The Hills Have Eyes. The plot concerns a teenage land owner who heads for the mountains of Oregon with a deed to his new property and an RV full of young friends only to discover (to their extreme peril) that words on paper mean less than nothing up there... or, in the words of horticulture-loving park ranger
George Kennedy, "Those mountains can't read, son." By nightfall, the youths learn the gravity of this warning, as they are set upon by a hulking Mongoloid in a knit cap and pilot's glasses who seems capable of being in two places at once.
~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
It's no wonder that among the tidal wave of
Friday the 13th inspired early 80s slasher flicks a few gems would drown in the flood, and anyone lucky enough to fish out a copy of director
Jeff Lieberman's
Just Before Dawn will certainly find themselves richly rewarded. Those familiar with such lost-in-unfamiliar-territory nail-biters as
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) will likely have some idea what a heedless group of teens are in for when a wild-eyed
George Kennedy nervously delivers the obligatory "don't go in the woods" speech, though predictability soon gives way to some of the more memorable slasher antics and one of the most rousing finales of the genre. From the initial panic of "demons" in the woods to the appearance of a hulking maniac who seems oddly omnipresent,
Lieberman's ability to craft finely tuned set pieces will have viewers squirming in the seats. Richly photographed to capture the alluring menace of the deep woods,
Lieberman's camera wisely reveals chilling details in a slow and assured manner, with fear lurking under every waterfall and behind every ancient tree.
~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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